RU2826439C1 - Cereal product with increased nutritional value with high content of beta-glucans - Google Patents

Abstract

FIELD: food industry.

SUBSTANCE: invention relates to production of functional mixtures of cereals with increased nutritional value with high content of beta-glucans. Disclosed grain product is made from 30 wt.% of garbanzo bean grits enriched with beta-glucans, and 70 wt.% of cereals, selected from barley, oat, buckwheat, rice grits or millet, or made from 50 wt.% of garbanzo bean grits enriched with beta-glucans, and 50 wt.% of buckwheat groats. Content of beta-glucans in the enriched garbanzo bean grits is 4.0–10.0 wt.%. Said garbanzo bean grits enriched with beta-glucans are grains formed from garbanzo bean flour by grinding garbanzo beans, enriching the obtained flour with beta-glucans, mixing with water at ratio of 1:3 until a homogeneous mass is obtained, excess air mixture is removed by evacuation, passing the obtained dough through a molding matrix with linear dimensions, corresponding to the size of traditional grits, drying and cooling of the produced garbanzo bean grits.

EFFECT: invention increases content of beta-glucans, proteins and food fibers in the grain product with simultaneous provision of optimum cooking time and high organoleptic properties.

1 cl, 5 tbl, 17 ex

Description

The invention relates to the food industry, in particular to the production of functional mixtures of cereals with increased nutritional value and a high content of beta-glucans.

Currently, the problem associated with positive nutrition, the creation of combined products rich in vital components (dietary fiber, including beta-glucans, complete proteins, micronutrients) and providing the human body with energy is relevant. Nutrition should be rational, comply with the basic provisions of nutrition science, the requirements of which should be taken into account when developing food industry strategies. The invention aims to revive nutrition traditions for the health of future generations, form a culture of consumption of the younger generation through new functional products, and increase the number of people who care about their health.

The prior art discloses a method for producing a protein-enriched product and the resulting product (patent for invention RU 2704288, published 10/25/2019). This method for producing a protein-enriched product includes sifting the starting materials, moistening, holding in a bin, and extrusion. The following ingredients are used as starting products: whole wheat grain, whole rye grain, rice groats, buckwheat groats, grain legumes and sprouted oat flakes at the following ratio of starting ingredients, g/kg of finished product: whole wheat grain 530.0-745.0, rice groats 55.0-92.0, buckwheat groats 46.8-80.0, whole rye grain 25.5-34.5, grain legumes 85.0-300.0, sprouted oat flakes 4.3-5.8, other components 26.0-35.0, which include salt, seasonings, spices 26.0-35.0. Grain legumes can be selected from lentils, peas, chickpeas or beans. The invention makes it possible to obtain a product enriched with protein up to a protein content of 125-170 g/kg with an improved taste (elimination of the taste of legumes and bitterness, imparting crunchy properties) and appearance (creation of developed porosity, preservation of light color, fragility of the product).

A ready-to-eat product and a method for producing it are known (patent for invention RU 2616379, published on 14.04.2017). The said product is a combination of flakes containing grain in an amount of 18 to 66 wt.%, legumes in an amount of 10 to 50 wt.%, pea protein isolate in an amount of 6 to 13 wt.% and technological additives in an amount of 3 to 9 wt.% of the total weight of the said flakes. The invention makes it possible to obtain cereal flakes containing grain, protein isolate and legumes, having a pleasant taste and structural integrity similar to the taste and structural integrity of traditional ready-to-eat cereal flakes.

Known solutions provide the possibility of obtaining protein-enriched grain products with a pleasant taste (excluding the taste of legumes and bitterness), structural integrity, but the resulting products do not contain such important components as beta-glucans.

Beta-glucans are polysaccharides that are one of the main soluble components of dietary fiber in cereals, found in the cell walls of mainly oats, barley, and to a lesser extent wheat, rye, corn, rice, and sorghum.

Beta-glucans are natural immunomodulators that activate immune responses, increasing the rate of maturation of immune cells, changing their activity and significantly increasing their lifespan.

It is known that the intestinal microbiota plays a key role in maintaining human health. The intestinal microbiota is a set of microorganisms that are in close functional relationship with the body. To prevent deterioration of the intestinal barrier function, it is necessary to maintain the microbiome and include foods rich in dietary fiber (including beta-glucans) in the menu. Beta-glucans are soluble dietary fiber, have high fermentability, due to which, when they enter the human intestine, they are used as an energy substrate by the gastrointestinal microbiota, as a result, the proportion of beneficial intestinal microflora increases. Through such a reaction, the amount, activity and production of metabolites of the intestinal microbiota will be regulated and, thus, can prevent the occurrence of various human diseases, such as glycolipid metabolism disorders, intestinal abnormalities, aging, neurodegeneration, cancer and depression.

Beta-glucans have been shown to have a cholesterol-lowering effect in the blood serum and may be dependent on an increase in the viscosity of digested food in the small intestine, which reduces the reabsorption of bile acids, increases the synthesis of bile acids from cholesterol, and, accordingly, reduces the concentration of total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, and VLDL cholesterol in the blood serum.

In the first study of the effects of beta-glucans on cholesterol levels (1981), the starting point was 3 grams of the substance, at which a positive effect was achieved.

It is also known that beta-glucans can help reduce hyperglycemia and insulin secretion by slowing down the absorption of nutrients, primarily carbohydrates, thereby having a positive effect on the health of patients with diabetes, improving the condition of the cardiovascular system and stimulating the immune system.

Despite its proven effectiveness on several physiological functions of the body, only a small part of the average person’s diet includes beta-glucans, and food products enriched with this polysaccharide are quite rare on the Russian market.

The problem that the invention is aimed at solving is to create a grain product with increased nutritional value and a high content of beta-glucans.

Technical result: increasing the content of beta-glucans, proteins, dietary fiber in the grain product while simultaneously ensuring optimal cooking time and high organoleptic properties.

To achieve the set objective, the grain product is made from 30 wt.% chickpea groats enriched with beta-glucans and 70 wt.% groats selected from barley, oat, buckwheat, rice groats or millet, or the grain product is made from 50 wt.% chickpea groats enriched with beta-glucans and 50 wt.% buckwheat groats.

The content of beta-glucans in fortified chickpea groats is 4.0-10.0 wt%.

Chickpea groats enriched with beta-glucans are grains formed from chickpea flour by a method that includes grinding chickpeas, enriching the resulting flour with beta-glucans, mixing with water in an approximate ratio of 1:3 until a homogeneous mass is obtained, removing excess air mixture by vacuuming, passing the resulting dough through a molding matrix with linear dimensions corresponding to the dimensions of traditional groats, drying and cooling the resulting chickpea groats.

It is important to note that functional cereal mixes with chickpeas, enriched with beta-glucans, are of particular importance in nutrition due to the high content of dietary fiber from 6.2 to 12.9% (20-41% of the average daily human requirement for dietary fiber), beta-glucans 1.3-4.5% (43-150% of the average daily human requirement for beta-glucans). Along with dietary fiber and beta-glucans, the presented functional cereal mixes with chickpeas also have an important balance of protein in amino acid composition, i.e. its biological value (see Tables 3, 4 and 5).

Deficiency of dietary fiber in the diet is one of the important risk factors for the development of diseases such as cholelithiasis, chronic cholecystitis with bile stasis, obesity, hernia of the esophageal opening of the diaphragm, hypomotor dyskinesia of the colon with constipation, type 2 diabetes mellitus, metabolic syndrome, atherosclerosis of the coronary arteries and related diseases, colon and rectal cancer, etc.

The functional properties of dietary fiber are mainly related to the work of the gastrointestinal tract. Dietary fiber has a positive effect on digestion processes, namely: it plays an important role in normalizing the motor-evacuation function of the gastrointestinal tract, is able to retain water, providing acceleration of intestinal transit and peristalsis of the colon and, therefore, reduces the risk of diseases associated with these processes.

Soluble and insoluble fiber increase the feeling of satiety, as fiber-rich foods require more time to chew and digest, thereby causing greater secretion of saliva and gastric juice. Satisfying the feeling of hunger prevents excess food consumption associated with obesity.

An increase in dietary fiber in the diet, when it interacts with the intestinal flora, enhances the intestinal synthesis of vitamins B1, B2, B3, PP and folic acid, and under their influence, the proportion of beneficial lactobacilli and streptococci increases and suppresses the growth of coliforms.

Along with dietary fiber, proteins are also important for the functioning of the body. They are the structural basis of all cells in the body, ensuring their activity. In the human body, proteins are broken down into amino acids, some of which (replaceable, such as alanine, aspartic acid, glycine, glutamic acid, proline, serine, tyrosine, cystine, cysteine) are building material for creating new amino acids. However, there are eight amino acids (irreplaceable, essential) that are not formed in the human body, they must be supplied with food (valine, leucine, isoleucine, threonine, methionine, lysine, phenylalanine, tryptophan). If the amount of these amino acids in food is insufficient, the normal development and functioning of the human body is disrupted.

Thus, lysine is associated with the process of hematopoiesis, leucine and isoleucine are necessary for the normal functioning of the thyroid gland, phenylalanine is necessary for the thyroid gland and adrenal glands, methionine affects lipid metabolism, provides antitoxic function of the liver and plays a major role in the functioning of the nervous system.

The nutritional value of proteins is determined by the qualitative and quantitative ratio of individual amino acids that form the protein.

The biological value of proteins is determined by the balance of the amino acid composition and the attackability of proteins by enzymes of the digestive tract, in other words, digestibility. The biological value of a protein by its amino acid composition can be assessed by comparing it with the amino acid composition of a reference protein, the amino acid composition of which is balanced and ideally corresponds to the needs of the human body for each essential amino acid (EAA). For an adult, the amino acid scale of the WPO/WHO Committee is used as a “reference” protein (Table 1).

In 1973, by decision of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Food Organization (FAO), an indicator of the biological value of food proteins was introduced - the amino acid score (ACS).

The calculation of the amino acid score for establishing biological value is carried out as follows.

The amino acid score of each essential amino acid in an ideal protein is taken as 100%, and in a natural protein the percentage of compliance is determined:

where AK is an amino acid.

The amino acid with the lowest ACS (less than 100%) is called the first limiting acid. This amino acid will determine the extent to which a given protein is utilized.

The analytical calculation of the biological value of a protein is based on the hypothesis of the dominant influence of the first limiting amino acid. It should be noted that proteins can have several limiting amino acids.

The balance of essential amino acids in relation to the physiologically necessary norm (standard) is characterized by the coefficient of rationality of the amino acid composition (Rc, fractions of units). In the case of Cmin < 1, the coefficient of rationality is calculated using the formula:

where Ai is the content of the i-th essential amino acid in 1 g of the protein under study, mg/g; ki is the coefficient of utility of the i-th NAC to the limiting amino acid, fractions of units. The coefficient of utility (utilization) is a numerical characteristic reflecting the balance of the NAC in relation to the standard. The calculation is carried out according to the formula:

where Cmin is the minimum NAC score of the protein being evaluated in relation to the reference protein, in units;

Ci — score for the i-th NAC of the protein being evaluated in relation to the reference one, in units. The total amount of essential amino acids in the protein of the product being evaluated, which cannot be utilized by the body due to mutual imbalance in relation to the reference one, is used to evaluate the balance of the composition of essential amino acids by the indicator of "comparable excess". This indicator characterizes the total mass of essential amino acids not used for anabolic needs in such an amount of the product being evaluated that is equivalent in their potentially utilized content to 1 g of the reference protein. The calculation of the indicator of comparable excess of the NAC content (σ, mg/g of the reference protein) is carried out according to the formula:

where Cmin is the minimum NAC score of the protein being evaluated in relation to the reference protein, in units;

Ai is the content of the essential i-th amino acid in 1 g of the protein being studied, mg/g; Ai,э is the content of the essential i-th amino acid in 1 g of the “reference” protein, mg/g.

A significant part of the diet consists of traditional cereals, differing in size (numbered cereals), grade (extra, premium, first), produced from one type of cereal, while their protein component is not only insufficient for adequate nutrition, but also has low quality. The calculation of the amino acid score, the coefficient of rationality of the amino acid composition, the index of comparable excess of the NAC content, the food and energy value of traditional cereals are presented in Table 2.

Table 2. Calculation of the amino acid score, the coefficient of rationality of the amino acid composition, the index of comparable excess of the content of NAC, the nutritional and energy value of traditional cereals.

Table 2 shows that chickpeas have a high protein content, but the coefficient of rationality of the amino acid composition (R) is only 0.54 units and a very high indicator of comparable excess of essential amino acids (302.1 mg / g), which indicates incomplete absorption of protein due to the low content of the limiting essential amino acid methionine + cystine. In other cereals presented in Table 2, the protein content is not high from 7.0 to 12.6%, the coefficient of rationality of the amino acid composition (R) fluctuates from 0.31 to 0.76 units, the indicator of comparable excess of essential amino acids remains high from 114.6 to 813.4 mg / g, which also indicates an imbalance of cereal and legume protein in essential amino acids. Cereal products have incomplete protein, but the limiting amino acids in cereals and legumes are different. The limiting amino acids in chickpeas are methionine + cystine, in grains - lysine and threonine. By creating cereal mixtures from various grain crops and chickpeas, you can not only change the protein content, but also significantly control its quality.

Tables 3 and 5 provide examples of multi-component cereal mixtures enriched with beta-glucans, the purity of which is 87.9%, and Table 4 provides examples of multi-component cereal mixtures enriched with beta-glucans, the purity of which is 32%.

Table 3. Examples of multi-component cereal mixtures enriched with beta-glucans (beta-glucan purity 87.9%).

Table 4. Examples of multi-component cereal mixtures enriched with beta-glucans (beta-glucan purity 32%).

Table 5. Examples of multi-component cereal mixtures enriched with beta-glucans (beta-glucan purity 87.9%).

Analyzing the data presented in Tables 3 - 5, it is evident that by combining different types of cereals with chickpeas in the ratios proposed by the applicant (see examples 1-17), the coefficient of rationality of the amino acid composition (k) increases significantly, the index of comparable excess of the NAC content (σ) decreases, and the protein content also increases by 14%-56% or more (amounts to 18-22% of the average daily human protein requirement). This suggests that by combining traditional cereals with chickpeas in the proposed ratios, it is possible to achieve not only an increase in the total protein content of the mixture, but also to significantly increase the proportion of convertible protein, improving its quality by increasing the proportion of "ideal" protein in the total protein of the mixture, while reducing the excess. For each example, the proportion of chickpeas is established, the addition of which to the mixture leads to obtaining the best quality total protein. In turn, chickpeas contain a high amount of dietary fiber, but do not contain beta-glucans. Therefore, the method of enriching chickpeas with beta-glucose, described below, adds additional functional properties to chickpeas.

By mixing chickpeas enriched with beta-glucans with oatmeal (examples 2, 8), barley (examples 1, 7, 13) and buckwheat (example 15), rich in beta-glucans, it is possible to obtain functional grain products:

- containing the daily requirement of beta-glucans (more than 3 g per 100 g of product),

- with a high content of dietary fiber (9.7-14.5 g per 100 g of product),

- increasing not only the quantity, but also the quality of protein.

By mixing chickpeas enriched with beta-glucans with rice groats (examples 5, 11, 16), buckwheat groats (examples 3, 4, 10, 11, 14), and millet (examples 6, 12, 17), it is possible to obtain functional grain products:

- with a high content of beta-glucans (more than 1 g per 100 g of product)

- with a high content of dietary fiber (6.2-13.2 g per 100 g of product)

- increasing not only the quantity, but also the quality of protein.

To produce a grain product with increased nutritional value and a high content of beta-glucans, mixtures of cereals and chickpeas are used. In this case, the cereal can be selected from at least barley, oatmeal, rice, buckwheat or millet.

Oatmeal is a kernel freed from flower films, unpolished. Barley groats are kernels partially freed from flower films, unpolished. Rice groats are kernels with a rough surface, freed from flower films, fruit and seed coats, partially from the alleron layer and the germ. Buckwheat groats are kernels freed from fruit coats. Chickpea groats enriched with beta-glucans are grains formed from chickpea flour using a molding press.

The technology for producing chickpea cereal enriched with beta-glucans is as follows.

Chickpea groats are kernels freed from the seed coat and polished. Then the chickpea groats are fed to the chickpea flour production line, which includes four crushed and two grinding systems. The chickpea groats are ground to the required grinding size and sifted through sieves, while the content of particles larger than 450 microns in the finished chickpea flour should not exceed 2%.

The obtained chickpea flour is fed to the bulk storage warehouse bin. Then the chickpea flour is transferred via a pressurized aerosol transport to the temporary storage bin. From the storage bin, after magnetic cleaning, the chickpea flour is fed to a batch mixer, where beta-glucan is dosed from a damping bin from 5 wt.% to 15 wt.% depending on the initial purity of the beta-glucans. The introduction of beta-glucans with a purity of 87.9% or with a purity of 32% should ensure the content of pure beta-glucans in the finished chickpea cereal of 4.0-10.0 wt.%. The mixture of chickpea flour with beta-glucans is fed to the operating bin of the molding press.

The main advantage of this method is the mechanical changes in the processed material during its slow movement under the influence of pressure and molding of the product. In the two-shaft press screw of the molding press, the material is smoothly mixed with water in an approximate ratio of 1:3, until a homogeneous mass is obtained, and at the moment of mixing in the press screw, excess air mixture is removed by vacuuming for better compaction and pressing of the dough, for further obtaining the required correct shape of the finished product and to prevent deterioration of the color and integrity of the finished product. The dough is compacted and passes through the molding matrix at a pressure of 60-70 bar, while the temperature of the supplied water and the temperature of the dough do not exceed 40-45 ° C. The temperature of the head where the matrix is installed also has a temperature of 40-45 ° C to reduce internal temperature stress. The matrix through which the material is pressed passes about 10-20% of the dough pumped into it by the press auger, as a result of which the dough is compacted, turning into a coherent dense dough mass.

After the pressing process, the material, molded by the molding press matrix into the shape of a grain with linear dimensions corresponding to the dimensions of traditional cereals, such as oatmeal, is fed into the dryer, where the drying process takes place. Primary drying allows fixing the outer frame of the raw material, fixing the shape of the products and preventing them from losing their appearance during the drying process. The main drying zone (air temperature 63-67°C, relative air humidity (RAH) 70%) allows for rapid moisture removal with a loss of water in the material of up to 16-18%. The final drying zone (air temperature 43-47°C, relative air humidity (RAH) 50-55%) activates a mechanism for gentle moisture loss with a less intense degree of drying in temperature and humidity for uniform drying of the finished product to 12-12.5% humidity. The last stage of production is cooling the finished product to a storage temperature of 28-29°C. The output is chickpea cereal enriched with beta-glucan. The beta-glucan content is not less than 4.0 wt%.

The applied technology for the production of chickpea groats provides the possibility of obtaining a product with high consumer properties, a reduction in the cooking time of the resulting cereal mixture to 10-20 minutes (in comparison with groats from crushed chickpeas), high organoleptic properties (absence of a beany taste), as well as the use of the obtained chickpea groats as an enriching component in the preparation of functional mixtures of cereals from cereal crops (see Tables 3, 4 and 5).

The grain product obtained according to the present invention is characterized by an increased content of beta-glucans, proteins, and dietary fiber. At the same time, it is distinguished by an optimal cooking time and high organoleptic properties.

Claims (1)

A grain product made from 30 wt.% chickpea groats enriched with beta-glucans and 70 wt.% of a groat selected from barley, oat, buckwheat, rice or millet, or made from 50 wt.% chickpea groats enriched with beta-glucans and 50 wt.% buckwheat, wherein the beta-glucan content in the enriched chickpea groats is 4.0-10.0 wt.%, wherein said chickpea groats enriched with beta-glucans are grains formed from chickpea flour by a method comprising milling the chickpeas, enriching the resulting flour with beta-glucans, mixing with water in a ratio of 1:3 until a homogeneous mass is obtained, removing excess air mixture by vacuuming, passing the resulting dough through a molding matrix with linear sizes corresponding to the sizes of traditional cereals, drying and cooling the resulting chickpea cereals.